Criminal cases are lawsuits by which the State prosecutes a person or organization for the violation of a penal law.
A penal law is that which identifies which acts or omissions are considered as crimes or offenses. There must thus be a specific provision in a Penal Code or Special Penal Law that defines and punishes the act or omission before one is considered to have committed a crime. Even if an act is socially or morally wrong, no criminal liability is incurred by a person or organization until that act is classified as a crime under law.